80 Years After The
Biggest War Started, A New Book By Award-Winning Journalist Reveals
The Hidden Places
of World War II
Chicago – four
decades after the launch of World War II, a new book journeys us to places few
have been.
In The Hidden Places of World War II: The
Extraordinary Sites Where History Was Made During The War That Saved Civilization
(Lyons Press/Rowman &
Littlefield), Navy veteran, award-winning journalist, and recognized
historian Jerome M. O’Connor
takes readers back to the world’s biggest and most significant war, to the
overlooked places to describe little-known events where history was made.
Many of the sites were thought to be closed or locked
away forever or believed to never have existed.
Some of the war-changing events described here were ignored for decades
by military historians. With historical
and contemporary photos, the book opens the eyes of both a new and older
generation of readers, in an exploration of the actual locations that changed
history.
O’Connor (www.historyarticles.com) has had many firsts over the years, as
a contributor to the Chicago Tribune,
Naval History magazine, British
Heritage, and other publications, including being the first to write about
Churchill’s secret war rooms in 1977. The U.S. Naval Institute, in 2000,
awarded him “Author of the Year,” acknowledging his writings as “significant
contributions to the history of World War II.”
The book, which is being promoted by the PR company that
I work for, brings to life the side of
the war few have seen. Many military history readers are unaware that all five
of the Atlantic Nazi U-boat bunker bases not only exist in nearly their
original appearance but can also be visited.
Many of the one-time Army Air Force bases in England, contain parts of
runways, crew quarters, chapels, and hangars.
In Nuremberg, Hitler’s vast parade grounds with intact grandstands,
half-finished 50,000 capacity congress hall, and even his reviewing podium
projecting into the grounds, remain three quarters of a century later. In London, enter a grand mansion where
fifty-nine captured Nazi generals had generous privileges and nearly open
access to the house, with every word they spoke being secretly recorded from
hidden microphones inside and out. These
are among the many places revealed that were overlooked by history.
O’Connor says: “Secret missions, hidden war rooms, code
breakers, and top secret orders. This
book has it all. If you are a history buff, a war veteran, or just a curious
student of the most significant time in this nation’s modern history, you will
find many items to explore here.”
Here is an engaging Q and A with Mr. O’Connor:
1.
As we approach
the75th anniversary of the conclusion of the war that saved humanity, what do
you hope new generations will come to know and understand about it? All knew that the
war would be fought to the death regardless of the sacrifices and losses
ahead. An unprepared nation joined
together to invest vast amounts of money and also confront the loss of
thousands of their sons. There were no
doubts about the need and no option except victory. This generation should know that Americans
then knew that they were part of a grand purpose and were equal to the resolve
needed. It was the only time when all
Americans had a single objective - the ending of tyranny and restoration of
democracy. Many today either take the
war for granted or are unaware that its loss would have ended the forward march
of civilization.
2.
The U.S. Naval
Academy declared you its Author of the Year in 2000 for making “significant
literary contributions to the history of World War II.” How would you describe your writing style?” I assume that
readers share my inquisitiveness. If others are merely revisiting what is
already well known, such as the D Day invasion, I look for the origins of what
other writers overlooked. Thus, the
reason for the chapter describing the anxiety faced by General Eisenhower in
approving the date of the invasion. It
begins with Ike’s worry over a weather delay, and not on the beaches but in the
existing house where he made the decision.
I write as a journalist and storyteller and avoid the use of dense
descriptions present in so many works of history. Sub-heads are included as in a magazine
format, and to hint at the section ahead.
In revising copy, I tend to edit down and be simple and direct. Say less
to mean more.
3.
How can we teach
history, especially about World War II, in an interesting but meaningful way? Begin by making WW
II history more approachable and immediate than it is now, such as informing
students that the war was one of the three most important events in American
history. Along with the founding of the
country and the Civil War, no other event in American history shaped the world
in which they live as students and in which everyone inhabits today. This recognition will give the war the
prominence it deserves in the curriculum.
Currently, it is lacking in importance in the teaching of American and
world history. Also, invite a vet to a
class while they are still here. Only
about 3.5% of WW II veterans are still alive, but after decades of silence many
are now willing to tell their story.
4.
What are some of the
key lessons we should all take away about how nations come together, united
against evil? Consider lessons from
the past. In peace or war nations care
about their own self-interests before any others. Before WW II, European countries and America
were divided by world depression, leading to both economic and social
instability. Adding to already unstable
conditions was a revulsion against war following the slaughter of millions in
World War 1. This resulted in wholesale
disarmament by the leading nations, especially Britain, France, and
America. When Germany began to re-arm
the principle governments, including many in the US Congress, sought to appease
dictatorship instead of uniting to confront the growing threat. What emerged from the war, the United Nations
and an economic union - the common market or EC - although imperfect, has kept
the peace for 75 years.
5.
Who are some of the
unsung heroes that you shed a light upon? In general, the unsung heroes were the
nine men in the rear who made it possible for the one man at the front to be
equipped to fight, have food, ammo and supplies, and be evacuated if
wounded. I regularly talk to vets who
say, ‘I didn’t do much; I only repaired planes or loaded trucks; I didn’t
fight.’ Not so; you faithfully served and earned the victory as much as front
line troops. Specifically, however, and this is in the book, were entire
organizations overlooked by history.
This includes Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, who ferried the aircraft
from the manufacturer to the US bases for handing-over to the crews who then
flew them into combat. It took until
1977 for the 1,000 women to be given veteran status and until 2009 for
President Obama to award the surviving members the Congressional Gold medal.
6.
What did you term the
“decision of the century” in your book?
Why? The success of the European war and the culmination of years of
planning came down to decisions made by one man, General Eisenhower. If he made the easy decision and delayed
because of poor weather or landed the troops at easier-to-reach beaches, they
could have been defeated at the water’s edge.
That would set back the war by at least 6 months, given the enemy more
time to defend against the second invasion, and months more to learn Allied
tactics and potentially an even more decisive defeat the next time. Because Ike had confidence in the plans,
equipment and the resolve of his troops, the order to invade on June 6, 1944
became the decision of the century.
7.
What did you come to
discover about the Nazi U-boat Sanctuary? Allied pilots were correct in their
repeated assessments after years of bombing that the U-boat bases were
indestructible. They just didn’t know
why. After research and repeated visits
to several of the bases, the reason was readily apparent. The overhead or roof construction was so
detailed and so ingenious in a diabolical way, that after seven decades the
bases with the full seven-layers and twenty-three feet of protection had no
damage. German engineers had devised a
construction process that contained or absorbed explosions, thus preventing
penetrating damage to the lower interior parts such as dry and wet docks.
8.
You have a chapter on
the unknown odyssey of the SS America/USS West Point. Why? Because America was officially neutral, FDR risked impeachment
by approving Churchill’s urgent request to lend him seven US flagged ships to
transport 20,000 British soldiers to the Far East. One of the seven ships, the 35,440-ton and
nearly new former SS. America, renamed USS West Point, had been the premiere US
ocean liner between New York and Southampton.
She not only escaped sinking by the Japanese in Singapore but became the
only US troop transport to sail in all war theatres. Her 151 daring voyages carried over 500,000
troops over 436,000 miles. Until I
researched her heroic missions and to the present day, FDR’s gamble and the USS
West Point’s contributions were overlooked in thousands of books about the war.
9.
Secret missions,
hidden war rooms, code breakers, top secret orders. Was the war won not just on power, courage,
and strategy, but on the ability to shroud all actions relating to the war
effort?
Stealth and secrecy shroud every war but never had more meaning than in WW
II. Because the stakes were so high – a
restoration of world order or entry into a new Dark Age – vast sums were
invested in devising human and mechanized ways of ensuring secrecy. Germany arrogantly invested its entire future
on the presumed infallibility of the Enigma machine. In turn, Britain launched an all-out effort
to break Enigma and then shared the secret with America. Breaking Enigma saved at least two years of
additional fighting, and, before America’s entry, it also saved Britain from
certain defeat. The war’s other major secret, the development of the Atomic
Bomb, was as closely guarded as the Ultra secret, the breaking of Enigma.
10.
America saved freedom
in its darkest hour back then. Do we
still have what it takes to preserve democracy? Throughout history
America’s sons and daughters have risen to the challenge, although to no
greater purpose or in numbers than in World War II. From the Revolutionary War to the current war
on terror - the longest war in American history - the special character that is
part of the American fabric, somehow produces the men and women who
unhesitatingly step forward when needed. Perhaps the wide diversity in our
ethnic background leads to an individuality that is needed in combat. The one
constant in today’s divided electorate is that those who serve are among
America’s greatest resources.
11.
What is history’s view of President Roosevelt as a war leader? First, it is often
overlooked how important FDR’s efforts were in bringing the Nation out of
Depression when one in four were out of work.
At the start of the war unemployment was down to 14%. As a war leader he had to resolve the often
competing interests of his military leadership and those of Allied leaders such
as Churchill and DeGaulle. He needed to
rally the American people to maintain confidence in themselves and in him. He made vital military decisions that altered
the course of the war and made them without boast or bravado. He earned the distinction of being the
greatest president of the 20th Century, and, along with Washington
and Lincoln, one of America’s three greatest presidents.
12.
Should America have
intervened sooner? As is described in the book’s opening parts, America was
secretly and deeply involved as FDR sidestepped or openly evaded the Neutrality
Act’s requirements in giving aid to Britain.
He knew that America would eventually enter the war, but he also needed
time to rearm the country, placate his political opposition, and bring the
American people out of isolationism. He
knew long before America entered the war that Britain had to be kept afloat as
an unsinkable aircraft carrier, to serve as the staging area for the American
forces who would liberate Europe. The
actions FDR took repeatedly to aid Britain were all intended to buy time so
that America would be ready. Against all
the odds he succeeded.
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